The USA-based PEW Centre released a report in 2012 entitled “Time Served: The High Cost, Low Return of Longer Prison Terms”.
The report looked at the incarceration trends in the USA and found an increase in the state prison population between 1972 and 2011 of more than 700%. Annual state spending on corrections exceeds $51b. The Pew report examined whether there were any clear returns, either in costs or public safety to this increase in people behind bars. They found no positive effects in terms of reoffending through keeping inmates in prison for longer. Other researchers have found an increase in the likelihood of reoffending amongst offenders released from long prison sentences. In South Africa, sentences of between 5-20 years have increased between 19% and 361% since 1995
View it online HERE
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